What China's sharp trade deficit means

In February, China's economy imported $31.5 billion more goods and services than it exported.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- China shocked the world this weekend when it announced its largest trade deficit in more than two decades.

The country has long been an export powerhouse, selling far more goods to foreigners than it buys in the world marketplace. But in February, the world's second largest economy imported $31.5 billion more goods and services than it exported, China's General Administration of Customs reported Saturday.

"The seasonal adjustment of these figures is just awful," Carl Weinberg, chief economist with High Frequency Economics said in a note. "Exports and imports always drop in February, with exports always falling more than imports."

Even the People's Bank of China Governor Zhou Xiaochuan warned not to take the numbers too seriously. He urged markets to look at the trade balance over the long term instead.

To make up for the volatility in the data, some economists like to average the figures for both January and February. Doing so reveals that both exports and imports are still growing far slower than they were in 2011.

That could mean China's government will be more likely to launch stimulative measures to support its economy, Qu Hongbin, Asia economist for HSBC said in a note.

Just a year ago, China's government was focused on curbing rapidly rising consumer prices. Now that inflation has slowed, it's turning its focus to economic growth.

"The trade data confirms the weakness in both China's external and domestic fronts," Qu said. "This reinforces the need for further easing measures, especially with inflation falling faster than expected."